++ AUGUSTUS b'RAASS ++ pre-heresy BRASS SCORPION p.247

[Augustus b'Raass]

Alright, decision time. I need your help and insight.

 

For armour, I'm going to have to decide a colour scheme. I'm aiming for a Nurglified version of the original Death Guard Legion scheme.
I've learned a lot from the poxwalkers, and will probably end up doing armour in a similar way:

1. three basecoats:

• 'shade' (shadows/upwards zenithal spray),
• 'base' (downwards zenithal spray), and
• 'highlight' (vertically downwards spray),

2. thinned wash of probably Sepia but perhaps Fleshshade all over,

3. thinned wash of thinned Agrax in the recesses, and lastly  

4. light drybrush. 

 

For the first step, I made some testers using some (Chaos) Space Marines bits I'll never use, and I'd like your opinion.

 

In order of 'shade', 'base', 'highlight':

1. Steel Legion Drab, Karak Stone, Screaming Skull

 

2. Karak Stone, Rakarth Flesh, Screaming Skull

 

3. Death Guard Green, Karak Stone, Ushabti Bone

 

4. Waagh Flesh, Karak Stone, Flayed One Flesh

 

5. Death World Forest, Karak Stone, Ushabti Bone

 

Now I'm actually thinking I would like to see one where the order is Steel Legion Drab, Karak Stone, Flayed One Flesh and one Death Guard Green, Karak Stone, Flayed One Flesh, so I might throw two in paint stripper.

 

Again, there's no washes here or anything yet, just the first stage of the paint scheme. 

 

Let me know which one you prefer. 

 

Cheers!

Replies:

 

@ BubblesMcGub: Probably a ton of converting, as I need the squads to be diverse, yet having a particular weapon loadout. The army leader will be Mortarion for sure. I already ordered him from a discount store, together with some Terminators, some characters, and three PBCs.

 

@ DuskRaider: I just ordered the cultists and they'll arrive in two weeks. So get cracking! ;) Next up will be Plague Marines. Where can I find the recipe you posted? I seem to not be able to find it in your thread.... 

 

@ hushrong: They're mostly meatshield for the PBCs, so probably not much running with them!

 

:Let me know which one you prefer. 

[Chaplain Raeven]

Tough choice, since the difference is very subtle. I would pick marine #3, I like a more vibrant green

[SkimaskMohawk]

Honestly a lot of the colour seems to come from your highlight. You can see a bit of the greens, but only in really out of the way places. I'd personally go with one of the first two since it's closer to the off white they had, without having those odd appearances of the shade. ANy washes or pigmentation you'll do will inevetiably show up better on either of those imo

[Greenz]

Sweet unholy Nurgle that’s a lot of poxwalkers!!! How you painted them up so quickly, and didn’t lose your sanity is beyond me. Good on you brother!

 

It’s hard to tell on my phone here, but I’m partial to #3 and 5. Though with the 5 of them side by side, #3 definitely catches my eye the most.

[DuskRaider]

Here, try this:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/335253-duskraiders-40k-death-guard-a-return-to-the-past/?p=5019552

 

By the way, never throw anything in the stripper. You hand it to her with a $20 and she'll do it herself.

Edited March 26, 2018 by DuskRaider

[KrautScientist]

Hmm, I find it hard to choose a favourite, mostly because I think that whatever comes next (i.e. the washing and the higlighting) arguably does more for the end look of the models than the basecoat -- to the point where you could probably end up with models that are virtually indistinguishable, even though they use a different basecoating recipe. But then, I am not really familiar with advanced airbrushing techniques, so what do I know?

 

I will say this: It seems like the one aesthetic choice to make here is this: Do you want to start of with a fairly standard "unspoiled" Pre-Heresy Deathguard look, then work from there and corrupt it as you go? In that case, one of the options without any green would be preferrable. Or do you want to hint at an underlying sickness and infection from the very beginning? Then one of the recipes using green would be the right choice. Personally, I guess I'd go with a fairly straightforward off-white/bone colour, because there's still enough you get to do afterwards to make the models look suitably icky.

 

But, again, since my own technique is so completely different, your mileage may vary ;)

[Sagentus]

I think it depends if you want to look like the pre heresy death gaurd colours then i would say no. 4. Or if you fancy going for something more like the newer colour scheme i would say no. 3 is your best bet :-)

[Punk possum]

I'm with GRC on choice 3 but Kraut scientist is bang on the money so much depends on shade and highlight that it's really hard to say for sure, are you planning to take the test dudes on a stage or two?

[Mechanist]

If going for a definite pre-heresy base then I would avoid green and narrow down to off white start. sure you can add patches of green to small areas and have the green pauldrons and legion markings but the bulk of the armour should read as off white/bone under the grubbiness. 

[hushrong]

Man, 4 & 5 really hit the spot for me. The armor isn't white, it seems stained and it's shadowed segments really show it off. Something about those two just really knock it out of the park for me.

 

And meat shields for a plague burst crawler? There is no task more sacred for the pox walkers. I also love the PBC, that tank brings the hurt.

[Panzer]

Hmm, I find it hard to choose a favourite, mostly because I think that whatever comes next (i.e. the washing and the higlighting) arguably does more for the end look of the models than the basecoat -- to the point where you could probably end up with models that are virtually indistinguishable, even though they use a different basecoating recipe.

 

Same. ^^

[Augustus b'Raass]

Alright, thank you all for your input!

I have to apologize to you as I wasn't thinking straight. As some of you stated: the step that will determine the colour the most will be the washes and the drybrushing, so asking about the base colour was not smart.

The stupid thing is, I totally forgot that DuskRaider (of course) also made a very nice tutorial on how he did his armour, and I decided to just follow that (except I skipped the first steps and just sprayed Ushabti bone and washed with sepia before drybrushing Ushabti again). So I did that, and this is the result:

 

 

Not too keen on the complete white scheme, my buddies told me to make the pads green. Unfortunately I seem to not have Castellan Green (will pick up tomorrow) so I had to make do. Here he is with 'too light' green pads.

 

 

What do you guys think?

 

A BIG thank you to DuskRaider for his fantastic tutorials - without him, I would probably still not be painting for myself - those tuts really gave me the conviction to start paitning again. THANKS BUDDY!

Cheers!

Replies:

 

@ GreyRavenC: Aha, so from that I gther: green needs to be in there. :)

 

@ SkimaskMohawk: Yeah actually the way I figured the most colour would come form a combination of the drybrushes and washes I would give the armour. 

 

@ Greenz: Yup, it kinda boggles my mind still as well. 105 miniatures in 11 days...
 

@ DuskRaider: THAANK YOU for reminding me. I snatched it like a pro and set to work on following it - waddayafink?  ;) Also, $20??? What is she doing?

@ KrautScientist: You are right of course, as always :) And yeah, I want to go with the standard look, so no green. 

 

@ Sagentus: Haha #4 was actually the one with the filtiest Green underneath - go figure! 

 

@ Puk possum: The intent indeed was to take the test dudes to stage two, but as I found the recipe I'm after, I just threw them back into the paint stripper so I can use them for a future Space Marine project. :)

 

@ Mechanist: Cheers, that's good advice - thanks!

 

@ hushrong: Isn't there? Meat shields for what seems to be the mainstay of any self-respecting Death Guard army nowadays. 

 

@ sfPanzer: Thanks!

[SkimaskMohawk]

So being unable to see the new pics at work, I'll warn you about the amount of detail going on with these models. Between trim, divots, bone growths, tentacles, censors, cracks and Daemonic faces there's a lot of potential to break up a scheme.

 

EDIT: I like it a lot, though personally I have no issue with the shoulders being the main colour. Only suggestion would be to grime it up even more, but maybe I'm just projecting my own scheme

Edited March 27, 2018 by SkimaskMohawk

[BubblesMcBub]

He looks good but can you post a pic of him next to a few of your poxwalkers?

[hushrong]

Oh man, that looks great! I like the light green pads as it looks faded but interested in seeing what you will do with that Castellan Green.

 

And yeah, probably the only meatshield out there that does its job with big, terrifying smiles. They just want to share the gift of un-death with anyone foolish enough to come near the big tanks.

[gaurdian31]

Man I missed a bit, love all the pox walkers and the Plague Marine looks great! I really like that daemonic should pad.

[DuskRaider]

I like it a lot! I'd actually say I'm a big fan of the all white, but the green does pop on the scheme well. Glad my tutorials came in handy. As far as the $20, well... let's just say I've seen a lot in my days, lol

[Lord Commander Eidolon]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm on the other side of the world, so excuse that.... I've been waiting to see the marines. You paint stuff up too quickly!!

 

I take it you are going with bone, wash and highlight! A sensible and time effective step.

I was going to suggest really pushing contrast in the shadows, I built my white up from flat earth brown, tan then white as a final highlight. I then used streaking grime enamel as an oil wash over a gloss varnish. I like this because it allows for cleaning up mess/mistakes.

 

Here's one of mine!

 

http://i67.tinypic.com/6fp35f.jpg

 

Hopefully the contrast shows. I would have liked to see a dark green shadow on yours, in the deepest shade areas. That said I do like your current scheme and sometimes I think the old motto, keep it simple, stupid works well!

 

I really like what you've done. I'd just encourage you to have fun with weathering chips, rust and grime streaks!

[KrautScientist]

Hmm, I am actually surprised how the tester Marine doesn't blow me away in the same way the shovelware Poxwalkers did ;)

 

Upon closer reflection, however, I think I can offer some - hopefully valuable - feedback:

 

The model looks fairly cool from a technical standpoint, but it all blends together a bit, seemingly lacking points of visual interest. I'd suggest the following changes:

 

• Seeing the model as is, I  think you'll definitely want to go with slightly darker green shoulder pads
• for some reasons, the mutations (particularly the tentacle/face on his left pauldron, the horns somewhat less so) look less interesting than the icky flesh on your Poxwalkers: I'd personally go for something more disturbing and closer to the way you painted the Poxwalkers.
• Painting the entire boltgun in that one samey, rusty tone wasn't a good idea: On this particular model, the gun is such a large area, and that area now blends together into this huge, indistinct block. I'd either push the contrast between the shadows and the prominent parts, or go and pick out the decorative filigree (for lack of a better word) in a contrastic colour.
• The model also seems to lack that last bit of polish that would truly make it stand out, namely the last highlights to add a bit of pop to areas like the horns, the teeth, the sharpest corners of the armour -- stuff like that.

All in all, I think you're on a promising way, but the guy still needs more work.

 

Hope this helps, buddy! :)

[Kizzdougs]

Fantastic work bro! I really like the Nurgle+HH Death Guard scheme that you've gone with. Really nice work :tu:

[Panzer]

Hmm, I am actually surprised how the tester Marine doesn't blow me away in the same way the shovelware Poxwalkers did ;)

 

Upon closer reflection, however, I think I can offer some - hopefully valuable - feedback:

 

The model looks fairly cool from a technical standpoint, but it all blends together a bit, seemingly lacking points of visual interest. I'd suggest the following changes:

 

 

• Seeing the model as is, I  think you'll definitely want to go with slightly darker green shoulder pads
• for some reasons, the mutations (particularly the tentacle/face on his left pauldron, the horns somewhat less so) look less interesting than the icky flesh on your Poxwalkers: I'd personally go for something more disturbing and closer to the way you painted the Poxwalkers.
• Painting the entire boltgun in that one samey, rusty tone wasn't a good idea: On this particular model, the gun is such a large area, and that area now blends together into this huge, indistinct block. I'd either push the contrast between the shadows and the prominent parts, or go and pick out the decorative filigree (for lack of a better word) in a contrastic colour.
• The model also seems to lack that last bit of polish that would truly make it stand out, namely the last highlights to add a bit of pop to areas like the horns, the teeth, the sharpest corners of the armour -- stuff like that.

All in all, I think you're on a promising way, but the guy still needs more work.

 

Hope this helps, buddy! :)

I second this.

The only thing of interest for my eye is the seemingly out of place red detail on his chin/chest.

More contrast between the green and the “white“ would be good.

[malcharion]

Hi augustus !

 

Congrat for the pox ! That amount of work in no time, and quality with that !

For the marines the white is really cool but I've to agree with kraut on this one he is not standing out has it should. Another green could do the trick (the heresy one) but I think that it lack someting to tie it to the pox, like your beautifull yellow/orange for the bubbons that we can find on all the pox ;)

Hope it helps !

 

Malchy

[Chickenleg]

I am a bit late but I love your Poxwalkers! Awesome Conversions! Cheers!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Holy crap, thanks for the overwhelming amount of great feedback, guys!

I've improved on the miniature one last time - he now has so many extra layers of paint on his pads that I cannot do any better. Suffice to say I did three things:

Pauldrons: used GW Castellan Green as the base and highlighted it with some Straken Green after a wash of GW Agrax. 

Gun: Went for a black casing. 

Tentacles: added another ede highlight of Pallid Witch Flesh to the end to tie them into the flesh recipe of the poxwalkers.

Horns: added edge highlighting to them to make them look sharper.

 

Here's the result:

 

 

 

 

Hope you like! I'm well into painting the first squad of five plague marines - with no less then three plasma guns... wooooo! Any ideas on the hue of the plasma? I was thinking a striking purple/pink. But Blue is also a great option, methinks....

 

Cheers!

Replies:
 

@ SkimaskMohawk: Eh, I think I'll settle for this amount of grime for now - it's always possible to go back and do more. :)
 

@ BubblesMcGub: Next time, gadget!

 

@ hushrong: Thanks! Glad you like it!

 

@ guardian31: Thanks! Good to now you caught up ;) haha I was on a bit of a spree...

 

@ DuskRaider: Alright, alright. I won't tell if you won't then. ;)

 

@ LCE: Yeah that method is far too involved for me. I want a maximum of three steps for any surface. More, and I cannot keep up my desired speed.I will go for more grime and rust streaks etc, though!

 

@ KrautScientist: Thank you for another comment full of super constructive feedback! I did everything you suggested! :D

 

@ Kizzdougs: Thanks! COming from you, that means a lot!

 

@ sfPanzer: Well glad I did everyhting he suggested then!

 

@ malcharion: Same as with Panzer :)

 

@ Chickenleg: Broooooook!*  (*Thanks! in chicken)

[Maarten]

I think if there's anything I could add to the discussion it would be that the metals on this guy shine a bit too much compared to how dirty the rest of the mini looks.Other than that he looks great.

PS Have you decided what you're gonna do with the sagittarius kit yet?